A known passenger protection apparatus of a vehicle includes an apparatus provided with a knee air bag apparatus for protecting the knee portion of a passenger by inflating and expanding a bag body from the forward side of the front seat when an impact is input.
An article storage box capable of storing articles such as documents and accessories is attached to a vertical wall member such as an instrument panel in front of the front passenger seat. Therefore, when a knee air bag apparatus is installed at the front passenger seat, the knee air bag apparatus is disposed below the article storage box (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-203232 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-193817).
In a passenger protection apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-203232, an article storage box is pivotably mounted downward on the surface of the instrument panel facing the front passenger seat, and a knee air bag apparatus is mounted below the rotating part of the article storage box.
In a passenger protection apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-193817, an article storage box is attached to the surface of the instrument panel facing the front passenger seat so that the article storage box can slide forward and backward, and a knee air bag apparatus is disposed below the article storage box. In the passenger protection apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-193817, the article storage box has a box main body having a storage recess portion and a lid portion pivotably attached to the rear side of the box main body (at the side facing the front passenger seat). When the passenger is not seated on the front passenger seat, the article storage box is made to be slidable forward and backward with the entire box main body. When the passenger is seated on the front passenger seat, the box main body is prohibited from sliding, and the lid portion is allowed to be opened and closed.